Lessons in Living
by little.black.vixen
Summary: What do you do when one of your ninjas has no idea what it's like to experience emotions? ... why put said ninja together with an Uchiha prodigy, one of his die-hard fangirls, the most troublesome ninja of the village and their lazy, perverted teacher of course. Narutoxoc(gradually)
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

Lessons in Living

**Hey this is my first fan-fiction ever so I apologise if it's a little weird and my characters are a little OOC (out of character! Yeah I was puzzled the first time I read the term…) or Mary-Sue-ish. Hopefully I'll get better with time. Now let's get this show on the road!**

Prologue:

"NARUTOOO!" the morning silence was broken by a loud yell that could surely be heard through atleast a 10km radius. The sleeping figure groaned and rolled off from the bed cursing the idiot who was causing such a racket so early in the day. Rubbing sleepy eyes, the individual then proceeded to the bathroom to complete the usual morning routine of brushing teeth and washing away the last traces of sleep, and then began to pull on a pair of loose, slightly baggy black pants and yank a blain black t-shirt on; this was followed by careful placement of a white fox-like mask over the face and finally the clipping on of a black cloak. All of this ensured that even if the person was seen nothing would be made out except for a black shadow with no distinguishing features.

This whole procedure was followed with a continuous rant about how certain individuals who lived in this village had better shut up in the mornings or start locking their doors and windows so as to prevent unpleasant surprises that would be in store for them in the near future. The mysterious figure turned to look at the watch and quickly downed a glass of milk and buttered toast before hurrying out, after locking the front door, to a very important and life- changing meeting. Not that the individual knew that right now, no this meeting would prove to be the most shocking, if the person even knew what that felt like, and most drastic change that the person would ever face and the meeting would result in a series of events that would change the individual, but whether for good or bad is a question that could be highly debated…

**So that's the prologue, I'm quite nervous as to whether it's all right. I hope that you all read and review it, any comments and helpful tips as to how to improve and plot ideas and suggestions at any time would be welcome!**

**~ love .vixen **


	2. Chapter 2: the Hokage's evil plan

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! I'm happy to present the first chapter of "Lessons in Living" I know it's probably going to go pretty slow but truthfully I'm not really sure how it's going to turn out and I'm pretty nervous plus im going to slowly shift into writing in POVs, but I'll try to get a chapter up atleast every two to three days atleast till the period I have vacations. I would also appreciate reviews good or bad so that I can improve my writing. Now on with the story.**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

**A/N: "-"= talking**

'**-'= thinking**

Chapter 1:

In all his years as Hokage, he had met different kinds of people, but never had he met anyone as troublesome as the blonde boy, currently hanging from the Hokage monument after desecrating the faces of the previous Hokages, which were carved into the mountain. Looking at the mountain he thought about the meeting he was to have with another worrisome ninja soon after. Sighing, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought to himself about how he was too old to deal with these kinds of things and all the things he could do once he retired. He fought the headache that threatened him so early in the morning and looked around him at the screaming crowd who were partly the cause for his pounding head and wondered as to how he could get the troublemaker, Naruto, down as well make himself heard over all the noise.

During his pondering, the Hokage had failed to notice one of the ninjas approach the spot next to him. He was quite startled to see Iruka a ninja and sensei in the ninja academy right next to him. He was even more shocked when Iruka gave him a quick apology.

Iruka's POV 

"NARUTO! YOU IDIOT! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? YOU SHOULD BE IN CLASS STUDYING, ESPECIALLY SEEING THAT YOU NEED THE LESSONS THE MOST. YOU BETTER GET DOWN HERE BEFORE I COME UP THERE!" I yelled effectively shutting the crowd up and in the process startling Naruto.

'God Naruto you idiot! How much trouble do you plan on getting into?' I turned to the Hokage to apologise again when I noticed how tired he seemed to be. I couldn't help but feel bad for the poor man having to manage all the problems in the village and then to add Naruto to the mix… crap now my head was spinning and I was just imagining it.

"Uh um…" I said clearing my throat and turning to the Hokage, "I don't mind dealing with Naruto seeing that this was done during class hours, you seem pretty busy, so I don't mind taking him to class and yelling myself hoarse at his stupidity…" I trailed off looking down slightly embarrassed, when I looked back up at my leader he looked so relieved that he could kiss me.

'UH! Now that's a nasty image.' I thought mentally cringing at the image of the old man kissing me in relief. It seemed that Naruto had the same image flash through his mind because he seemed to shuddering in disgust and horror. Boy was Naruto going to get a yelling from me now; I can't believe he thought that. I knew I wasn't over reacting because the damn brat was making kissing faces at me from behind the Hokage!

Hokage's POV 

I watched with relief as Iruka dragged Naruto away with him, to take him to class. When they disappeared from my view I quickly sent the crowd on their way and sighed.

'Well that's one problem solved… oh boy Iruka was fuming, Naruto's in for it today. I really need to thank Iruka, hmm… maybe a small pay raise… yes I think I will, he deserves atleast that much, looking after Naruto…'.

"Now let's deal with the next problem on my agenda… god I am not going to like this one bit." I murmured before sighing, thinking deeply as to how I could solve this new worry.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice I had reached the meeting place, and apparently the ninja I was worrying so much about decided to spring out of the shadows to greet me. To say I was shocked was an understatement; I think I just lost atleast ten years of my life! My heart was hammering like it would have if I had just finished running away from Naruto on a sugar rush; I inwardly shuddered at that horrific thought and hoped that I would not live to see that day. I quickly turned to face the person who had just shocked me.

"Really Natsu, I'm an old man I could have had a heart attack and died!" I nearly screamed at the figure before me, a cold almost flat chuckle that conveyed no humour was what I got In return.

Natsu's POV

I gave a slight chuckle, an emotionless almost cold one, "Is that what you believe Hokage? Because I definitely don't… murdered maybe, killed in action protecting the village almost definitely, but dying due to a heart attack… pfft" I said, emotionlessly stating how I thought the man before me would probably die, after all a ninja is NOT supposed to have feelings. Feelings are absolutely useless and make one impractical. I am a tool after all, one that is used to protect my village. Emotions would only get in the way; it leads to disobeying orders and other problems like irrational decisions, which a person at my level cannot afford. Yup I had long decided after all the things I'd seen in my past, that emotions were a complete waste of time and not required. I turned to look at the man who was scrutinising me or atleast what he could see of me.

"Is there something you needed me for, other than my opinion of how you die, that is…Sir?" I asked hoping it was something important, like a new mission.

Hokage's POV

While I was watching the ninja before me a thought squirmed its way through and developed into an evil plan of action, evil but most effective plan… things were going to get so much more entertaining now; I could barely contain my laughter.

"Natsu" I said getting the complete attention of the young ninja before me, "You are no longer a part of the Anbu…" I waited for what I knew would definitely follow "Why? I haven't done anything wrong have I? All my missions have been a success-"

'Darn! Even when I state something like that there's hardly any emotion in that voice'

"Natsu" I said abruptly cutting short the questions, "I wasn't done yet" there was silence "good, now that I have your attention… you will no longer be a part of the Anbu… instead you will be going to… wait for it… THE NINJA ACADEMY, with others of your age." I waited for a few minutes in the stunned silence before the outburst I was expecting occurred.

Natsu's POV

"WHAAAT?" I nearly screamed in an almost shocked voice "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME? I haven't done anything wrong to deserve this torture. I saw the ruckus in the morning while coming here, and you're planning on putting me in there with all that?" I noticed the evil gleam in his eye.

'OH NO! Fine begging is out … so I need a new plan to get out of this… crap! I've got nothing… great I'm doomed'

"Is this an order…? Old man" I asked my emotionless voice was back.

Hokage's POV

'Oh! there was a slight change, a hint of shock I think? Hmm this is good, a slight breakthrough right in the beginning… I think I'm going to enjoy this good deed of mine very much'

"Yes it is, Natsu, it's for your own good now on your way to class, your sensei has been informed already. Oh and Natsu I expect your cloak and mask to be removed soon" I said "Off you go don't want to be late do you?" I asked ignoring the ominous aura all around me.

I watched the figure poof away from me with a soft pink smoke that was so unique, truly one of a kind with that sweet vanilla scent it had. I quickly turned and headed to my office chuckling all the way.

**So that's the first chapter, I can't believe how much I had to think and rewrite this chapter, I'm quite nervous about how my character Natsu will develop. I hope that you all read and enjoy it, any comments and helpful tips as to how to improve and plot ideas and suggestions at any time would be welcome! And please Review!**

**~ love .vixen **


	3. Chapter 3: First Day in the Academy

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! Here's the second chapter of "Lessons in Living" I really want some reviews or any tips on how to improve the writing. Again, I'll try to get a chapter up atleast every two to three days atleast till the period I have vacations. Now on with the story.**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

Chapter 2

Natsu's POV

'Damn old man I can't believe he's doing this to me… I seriously hope the class is a lot less annoying… nah knowing my luck it's probably filled with weird characters.'

I was almost at the Ninja Academy, 'crap I really don't want to go in…' I sighed deeply and figured that it would probably be better to just get it over. I had just about convinced myself that it would be like ripping off a Band-Aid, unbelievably painful in the beginning but once you get over the pain, it's somewhat bearable… and then I reached the class.

"You MORON you realise that you have the school graduation exam tomorrow, you've already failed it twice you can't afford to fail the exam again" I shook my head it seems Iruka's yelling again… I wonder if he does anything else. "That's it! We're having a review test on Henge No Jutsu (transformation technique), everyone line up!" on hearing this I immediately perked up, I was extremely interested in seeing the level my supposed classmates were at.

So far all the students had done all right, but I was pretty interested in seeing how Naruto did, after all the trouble he caused I had often wondered if he was any good. It seemed like this was the moment of truth, Iruka had just called Uzumaki Naruto forward.

"Transform" Naruto yelled, and I leaned forward ever so slightly just to see how good his transformation was, I nearly fell over at the scene before me… Naruto had transformed into a… A SEXY NUDE GIRL… and Iruka had the biggest nose-bleed I had ever seen, and I'd seen many bleeding noses, having caused quite a few when my fist connected with said noses, good times.

Naruto's loud laughter reached my ears, he had apparently named it his 'Sexy No Jutsu' this had led to Iruka resuming his screaming, and for the hundredth time I wondered how the guy hadn't lost his voice yet; that was one powerful organ…

'I have to spend time with these crazy people… I got kicked out of the Anbu to attend class with these idiots… I HAVE TO ATTEND CLASS WITH THESE MORONS' I was so caught in this particularly important revelation I had had, that I didn't realise that Iruka had noticed me. I was just about to bolt when he called out to me.

'Crap! My escape route' I mentally wailed, then turned and entered my doom.

Iruka's POV

'Damn Naruto that was not funny, how embarrassing having a nosebleed in class, for THAT Jutsu no less'

While wallowing in my embarrassment I noticed a figure quietly standing by the door, and from the posture just about ready to bolt out of the Academy, I sighed to myself in relief, a suitable distraction had just been placed within my reach. Thanking the gods for the said distraction I quickly turned towards the door.

"Hey kid, don't just stand there come in and introduce yourself to the class… you're the new kid I was informed about right?" I had never seen this kid before and something about him, seemed off.

Class's POV 

A cloaked figure slowly walked into the class and stood there, it was quite obvious that everyone was wondering as to how to break the awkward silence which was present at the moment. Iruka seemed to realise this and cheerfully asked the new student his name.

Natsu's POV 

"Natsu Hayashi" I quietly stated my name while scanning the classroom. This room had to contain some of the weirdest people I had seen in my short yet eventful life, there was some weird pink haired chick who looked like a total suck-up, a snob whose hair seemed to defy all laws of gravity, it had to be hair gel I decided, a guy who was sleeping in his seat, a shy girl with huge freaky purple eyes, a guy wearing sunglasses and a coat, a guy who was eating… what looked like his fifth packet of chips for the morning and a dude with a dog on his head.

'WAIT! WHAT!' I looked at the guy again, 'what the hell is going on in this school? And why is the dog sitting on his head?' I thought to myself, slightly freaked by the amount of weirdness I would have to deal with on a daily basis.

"Well then, are there any questions for Natsu?" Iruka asked the class, all at once there were a whole lot of questions put forward.

"Are you new to the village? How old are you? Why did you transfer so late?" and lastly "why are you wearing a mask?" I was almost overwhelmed by the questions, I didn't think they would have this many.

" I'm not new to the village, I'm 12 years old just like you all, the reason is classified and you all haven't earned my respect so you don't get to see my face just yet" I answered all the questions thrown at me. "Now that I'm done answering your questions, Iruka would you please let me sit down somewhere?" I asked, this was followed almost immediately by loud gasps from most students, except the snob who was giving me a weird look and the sleeping dude, for obvious reasons, as well as majority of the students offering me a seat next to them. It was annoying to say the least, however I noticed that Naruto was oddly silent this whole time and had a look that almost begged me to sit next to him.

"Never mind Iruka I'll choose my own seat" I said turning to face him. 

"That's fine but could you please call me sensei I am your teacher after all" he said, sounding quite lost.

"No, I don't acknowledge you as my teacher, you are not stronger than I am and yet to prove yourself to me" I stated while moving to the seat next to Naruto and comfortably placed myself in the seat next to him.

"Oh! And I'll be taking the exam tomorrow along with the others" I stated "carry on with the lesson _Iruka_ I'm sure there are others who are in desperate need of your lesson" I continued allowing a slight tinge of sarcasm to colour my tone.

Sasuke's POV

I couldn't believe it, this kid comes here and acts like he's so cool and tough, he even challenged a sensei. Now I have to face him and beat that attitude right out of him, I'll prove I'm the best in the academy.

I waited until class ended to show the punk who was the strongest, after all if I couldn't beat this short brat I wouldn't be able to beat HIM.

"Hey shorty you spoke pretty big in class but do you have the skill to go with those words?" I questioned, apparently the others were also quite interested in his skill because everyone was watching, anticipating the fight.

"Why don't we take this outside, I can tell that you're quite skilled" was the only indication I got that I would get the fight I desired.

Outside

There was a huge crowd, including Iruka, who was curious as to how skilled Natsu was in fighting, circling the two fighters, it was quite obvious from the girls screaming that the snob was their favourite. The mysterious new student seemed casual almost unbothered by the fact that the fight was about to start.

"My name is Sasuke, so you'll know the name of the person who beat you" The snob stated " and being the nice person that I am I'll let you try hitting me" he said with a smirk.

"Well too bad I don't hit girls, so I'll just avoid bruising you badly" Natsu stated with a mocking tone.

Sasuke immediately leaped towards his opponent and aimed a punch which Natsu dodged with ease.

"You'll have to do better than that" Natsu sang in a voice that got onto Sasuke's nerves. They continued in that way for quite a while, Sasuke throwing punches and Natsu dodging, until Sasuke made a slight break through, he had just managed to yank the cloak and mask off when suddenly he felt himself being flipped over and before he could blink he found his face on the ground with a kunai at his neck.

He looked up and found himself staring into big, beautiful green eyes. His eyes scanned the face of the petite young girl, who had trapped him under her slim body. She had skin which was light honey in colour and looked quite soft to touch, soft, cute pink lips, lovely green eyes that were flecked with gold and silverish-white hair that reached her mid back. Her overall appearance was quite lovely and exotic to say the least.

"As I thought, you are quite talented… and as entertaining as it may be to sit here and crow about my victory all day I have to go and you all have an exam to prepare for, so I'll be leaving." And with that Natsu, the new girl, got up and walked away from the circle of students and Iruka who could only stare in shock at the fact that the new student was a pretty girl who had beaten the toughest guy in the academy.

**That's the end of this chapter. Please read and review! Any suggestions would be helpful.**

**~ .vixen **


	4. Chapter 4: Normal people are Scary

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! The third chapter of "Lessons in Living" is here! I really want some reviews or any tips on how to improve the writing. I know this was a little late but it's Diwali! The festival of lights is finally here! I'm soo excited I've been helping my mum make sweets, YUM! So the next update might be slightly late but I'll try to get it done within three to four days… enjoy!**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

Chapter 3

Natsu's POV

"BRIIING! BRII-"I slammed the damn alarm clock into the wall, effectively destroying my third clock for the week. I groaned and climbed out of bed dreading the thought of attending that wacked out place the village called a school. I quickly finished my morning routine of brushing my teeth and bathing and quickly pulled on a pair of baggy, low waist black cargos and a dark blue tank top. I decided against wearing my cloak since that Sasuke guy had managed to pull it off and everyone knew how I looked now anyway, I did however slip my fox-like mask into the pouch on my hip, it gave me a strange sense of security, probably due to my time in the Anbu.

I quickly gulped down a glass of milk, ate my toast, locked my front door and walked towards the Academy.

'God what a boring day… I really don't want to go for some stupid exam, I hope its atleast relatively challenging…. Who am I kidding this day is probably going to be super boring…' and with those thoughts floating around in my head I reached the place I really did not want to reach.

I opened the door and as I walked into class I realised that there was pin drop silence, it seemed that I had shocked my classmates more than I thought. I moved purposefully to my seat next to Naruto and placed myself there comfortably. As soon as I sat down I was immediately surrounded by most of the students, the girls, led by the pink haired chick and some long haired chick, screaming about how I had "hurt" their Sasuke Kun or something while the guys were busy flirting.

"YOU BITCH HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO OUR SASUKE KUN STAY AWAY FROM HIM HE'S MINE-" "do you believe in love in first sight or should I walk by again?"

'God their so loud early in the morning, I don't think the dude even likes them…' I thought glancing at Sauke, who had watched me carefully while I was entering the class and now seemed to be deep in thought, or acting like an incredibly cool guy. 'Now that I think about it how does anyone find that cool it seriously just looks like he's thinking… and how much more annoying can these guys get? Do they really think I'll fall for something that lame?'

"Listen up I really can't deal with your stupidity in the morning so I'll be perfectly honest with you… I don't think that guy even likes you all, so stop bothering me" I coolly stated without even bothering to look at the now fuming and extremely shocked girls, "Sorry" I said as i turned my head giving an icy look to the guys, "but I don't date outside my species", and that's when Iruka decided to turn up and get the exam started.

Iruka's POV 

I entered the class to get the exam started and what do I see? Those brats creating trouble, again… it was no surprise to see who was at the centre of it, really that Natsu looks so delicate and fragile but she beats one of the top students without breaking a sweat and that glare she's giving could freeze hell over, twice! I sweat dropped slightly at the scene, there were penguins sitting by the desk…

"Um right, we'll be beginning with the exam now, so everyone take your seats. You will have to perform the Bunshin No Jutsu (clone technique)." I looked around the class only to be met by a wide range of emotions. Sasuke, Sakura and a few others looked confident, a few others looked tensed but they seemed alright otherwise, Naruto though had a look of absolute despair on his face… 'Darn the Bunshin Jutsu is Narutos worst skill, I seriously hope he makes it through… though from the look he's giving I think I'd better keep that seat reserved for him' I thought with a sigh. I shifted my eyes slightly to get a look at the new kids face; she would be attempting this exam without receiving any formal instruction from me. I was stunned, to say the least, she had a look of absolute boredom on her face those deep, golden flecked, green emotionless eyes met my own brown ones, as if challenging me and in that moment I felt a slight fear running down my spine, I really did not want to see that girl angry…

"Y-Yeah… so when I call your name enter the room next to this one, once in the room you will have to perform the Jutsu before the examiners present. Well then, all the best to all of you." I said and started the examination.

Natsu's POV 

I was B-O-R-E-D, very, very bored in fact. I just wanted to finish this exam and move on.

"Natsu Hayashi, it's your turn now please proceed to the next room." The examiner called out.

'About time, I can finally finish up here… hmm I think I'll check on the Anbu after this' and with that thought I quickly headed to the next room.

Examination Room 

I entered the room and find myself looking at Iruka who looked slightly nervous and some other weird guy with shoulder length white hair, which was tinted blue and green eyes. 'I don't like this guy… I'll have to watch him closely, Iruka looks clueless though… he really is a gullible fool' I thought to myself while scrutinising the new guy.

I sighed and slowly made the hand seals, so as to make myself seem weaker. My hands moved and made the signs ram, snake and tiger, while I quietly stated "Bunshin", I had limited my chakra such that I created only one perfect replica of myself giving them the impression that I was an ordinary student.

Iruka looked relieved and literally sank into his seat, while the other guy looked at Iruka, slightly puzzled by his weird reaction. Iruka must have realised because he quickly turned to his partner and gave him a grin "I think Natsu deserves to get the head protector, don't you Mizuki?" Iruka stated happily.

'Uh disgusting… if I hadn't seen the nosebleed Iruka got from Narutos Sexy Jutsu I would have sworn they were hitting on each other' I thought thoroughly disgusted, grimacing at the mental picture of the two men before me on a date, ' they do not make a cute couple at all…'

"Of course she does!" Mizuki stated with a sweet, gentle smile, "you will have to work extra hard from now on." He stated with that smile that was creeping me out, while I collected my protector with the hidden leaf insignia on it. It was then that I realised that today might not be as boring a day as I thought it would be if I was right.

"Now I get it" I murmured to myself "normal people worry me… you had better be careful" I stated while looking at Mizuki and then walked out of the room leaving both the men confused and sweat dropping at the randomness of what I had just stated.

_x_

Fast forward to after the Exam

I walked out of the academy and while I was leaving I noticed the lonely figure of a certain blonde ninja sitting on a swing… I sighed softly and moved towards him I could see the hurt and pain in his eyes, I was lost I didn't know what I was supposed to say to him.

"listen Naruto, I won't lie to you and say that I know what you're feeling because I don't, what I will say though is this… it's not the end there is still some time before the day ends and if I am right you will probably have a chance to prove yourself… All the Best." And with that I walked away, not noticing the slight smile Naruto had as he watched me leave or the small glimmer of hope that had appeared in his bright blue eyes.

_x_

Fast forward to the evening

I jumped through the trees; I had heard that Naruto had stolen one of the forbidden scrolls. I quickly located Naruto and carefully concealed myself watching as he practiced. Iruka appeared after sometime and while they were talking I overheard how it was that Mizuki guy who set this up.

'So… it seems I was right in not trusting him. He was too kind and much too normal… so normal that it seemed fake, I mean seriously no one is that perfectly normal unless they are trying to hide something… Iruka you really are a gullible little idiot.' I thought to myself while observing quietly as Mizuki appeared throwing kunai at both Naruto and Iruka, and then, them being the men they were, got into a fight. I sighed quietly and followed them throughout the fight staying hidden in the shadows while jumping through the trees to watch them.

'Hmm… I'm impressed Iruka I won't acknowledge you as my 'Sensei' but I will acknowledge you as a ninja and a person who looks out for his students. My respect for you has increased just a bit… Naruto' I thought looking at the blonde boy who had just protected his teacher, 'what will you do now?'

I was almost shocked by what happened next, hundreds of Naruto clones appeared and not normal clones that were to be formed like in the exam but shadow clones. 'Impressive Naruto, very impressive, you are worthy of my respect… I can already tell that you will become a strong rival, after such a long time I can feel my blood stir with the desire of testing my skills against yours' I thought with an almost feral-like smirk on my face, as I watched Mizuki being beaten to a pulp.

I was still hidden in the shadows, as I watched Iruka tie the forehead protector on Naruto. I stayed in my position and looked on at the two figures walking away until they disappeared from my sight before stepping out into the moonlight.

'It seems that he has already found out what he is and what lies within him, your journey begins now Naruto, and I hope you're prepared for the challenges ahead' I thought. Little did I know that my journey would begin with his as well and that our fates were bound together in ways that no one could ever imagine.

'I look forward to seeing how much you grow and how well your skills improve… don't disappoint me Naruto' I thought as my long silvery white hair swayed slightly in the wind, glinting in the moonlight and with that thought I quietly disappeared from the scene, there was no indication that I had ever been there at all…

**Yeah so not the most humorous chapter, but it's going to get better soon I promise, but the next chapter might take some time its Diwali after all!=)**

**~ .vixen **


	5. Chapter 5: Team 7 plus 1 is Born

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! The fourth chapter of "Lessons in Living" is finally out! I really want reviews… I've written three chapters so far and haven't gotten a single review = (anyway on a lighter note we had a Diwali get together the other day! It was amazing I ate soo many sweets! I was crazy for hours thanks to all that sugar =)!**

**Oh well let's get on with the story!**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

Chapter 4

Natsu's POV

'Crap yesterday was such a stupid day, I can't believe I wasted one full day watching Naruto make a full of himself and dragging that Konohamaru brat along with him… but there was something good in the end of all of that' I thought as I made my way to class recalling how Naruto had beaten Ebisu, ' but seriously combining shadow clone with sexy Jutsu to form Harem no Jutsu is weird… to think he is talented enough to do that but wastes it on such stupid jutsus' I thought shaking my head in slight disbelief.

I quietly entered the class and took my seat next to Naruto. I slumped slightly in my seat 'damn I can already tell that today is going to be a long and troublesome day…'

"Natsu get your ass of that chair! I want to sit there" Sakura yelled, somehow managing to make herself heard over all the sudden screaming by the other girls in the class.

"Huh?" was my extremely intelligent reply; I then noticed that my seat was in between Naruto and Sasuke, which explained the sudden desire to sit here. 'It's way too damn early in the morning for this…' I thought to myself already mentally exhausted by the screaming of fan girls.

I sighed slightly and opened my mouth to say something when I noticed Naruto squatting on the desk in front of Sasuke having a quiet face-off with him, 'hmm I think it would be pretty weird if somebody bumped into one of them and they had an… accident… pfft there's no way that would happen' and right then some kid in the front bumped into Naruto and he fell forward.

'I don't believe it! These morons actually managed to do it…' I thought sweat dropping slightly and on reflex I stuck my hand out… right in between Naruto and Sasukes lips so they were both kissing my hand.

"My my however are you going to make up for that nasty experience?" I asked the unfortunate boy who had bumped Naruto, giving out an ominous aura with a sweet, fake, smile on my face, I was so intent on beating the living day lights out of the guy that I failed to notice the slight tint of pink present on the faces of both Naruto and Sasuke. Seems like I didn't have to do much to the boy, the kid nearly wet himself while apologising profusely. In the end I was so annoyed I told him to shut up and leave me in peace, 'I dread to think that people like that are becoming ninjas… oh well atleast it got Sakura to shut up' I thought looking at the pinkette who was looking extremely pale, 'hmmm I don't think she's cut out to be a ninja, I hope she realises it soon or else it's going to get difficult for her, oh well it's not my concern' I thought my cold visage betraying nothing of the matters I was thinking about.

Naruto's POV

'He-her hand! I kis-kissed her hand' I thought completely shocked; I looked at the girl in question. Her silvery-white hair, which usually fell to her waist, was now in a neat French braid with a few tendrils of hair loose and framing her face. She wore a dark green tank top with a pair of black shorts today, her protector bearing the insignia of the hidden leaf, tied around her neck, as usual. Her pink lips were forming a sweet but obviously fake smile, and her eyes were so cold and sharp they looked like they could cut right through you and pierce your very soul. Only the aura she was giving off showed how upset she truly was.

'she's strong, I can't wait to see her true skills and she doesn't seem to get along with the others … maybe there is someone who I can relate to' I thought a slight pink tinge dusting my cheeks 'someone who can understand how lonely it is and maybe call as a friend… and she's not interested in Sasuke' I thought happily.

Sasuke's POV

'I-I I NEARLY KISSED NARUTO! I really need to thank Natsu for saving my lips…' I thought looking at the girl who was currently death-smiling? At the guy who bumped Naruto, the idiot. I made a mental note not to piss her off, 'she makes my glares look angelic' I thought with a slight shiver going down my back.

'She seems so frail and tiny, but her reflex is amazing and she beat me once…' I thought to myself, 'man I'm excited! You've caught my interest Natsu Hayashi, you seem strong…' I thought with a slight blush and a small smirk forming in my face.

Iruka's POV

I felt pretty happy today, Naruto had passed, Mizuki had been punished, my young students were becoming genin… yes everything was going right for once, I happily opened the door… and stopped. Naruto and Sasuke were slightly pink in the face; Natsu looked cold and pissed like hell, another student was cowering under her glare while the rest of the class was… silent.

'NOO, my perfect day…' I thought, I sighed slightly 'might as well get on with what is required.'

"Now that you all have passed the graduation exam, you will begin your life as a genin ninja today. You will soon be assigned duties by the village today, so today we will be creating three man teams. Each of these teams will have a Jounin sensei to guide you; you will have to follow that sensei's instructions while completing the duties you will be assigned." I said and then started calling out the various teams.

"Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Natsu Hayashi" I stated, I turned to Sakura, "Sakura since you seemed more interested in the medical line you will be given the duties of a medic so you will only be in team 7 as a temporary member for their missions" I told her giving her a small smile, and continued with the other teams.

"Now that all the teams are sorted, your Jounin senseis will come to meet you in the afternoon so till then take a break." I said and walked out of class.

'I wonder about team 7, Naruto and Sasuke balance each other out, sakura is basically a medic so she won't change much of the working and strength of the team… but Natsu worries me, nobody knows how strong she is, we put her there on the others of the Hokage… but she had a pretty scary look on her face' I thought just a little worried, 'I hope you know what you're doing Hokage-sama' I thought as I continued on my way.

Natsu's POV

'They put me on a genin team with those two idiots' I couldn't believe it they had just assigned a high ranking ninja to a genin team consisting of a troublemaker, the supposed prodigy and a temporary fan girl medic.

'I'm doomed…' I thought as I ran out of the class right after Iruka left. I ran to a safe distance, until I was sure that nobody was around I disappeared in a puff of soft pink smoke.

I appeared in front of the door to the Hokage's office. Taking a deep breath to compose myself I quietly snuck into the office and hid in the shadows completely hiding my chakra, watching the old man who seemed deep in thought.

'God damn old man he's planning something again… this is not good' I sighed softly and stepped out of the shadows.

"I can't believe you put me in a team with those two" I said, I put out a hand when he opened his mouth to say something "don't deny it; you're the only one capable of doing something like this." I said looking at him.

"From the point of view of strength and talent Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura are all talented however…" I stated extremely calm "they're extremely annoying and I don't think I can survive their constant bickering. Naruto's always goofing off, Sasuke acts like he's above everyone else, has a stick up kis ass and can't work with anyone and Sakura would probably kill herself if Sasuke asked… and you're asking me to get along with them." I stated blandly, sounding much older and colder than the 12 year old I was.

"Well atleast the Jounin sensei is someone you already see as equal to yourself…" the Hokage muttered quietly.

"what do you –" I said before suddenly being lifted off the ground, I reacted by elbowing the person and then pushing myself of the individual quickly flipping in mid-air and landing safely to face the sudden intruder, kunai in hand ready to strike and kill if necessary.

"Well well nice to see you again Natsu!" the man before me said.

"That's captain Hayashi to you…" I said, putting the kunai away, and then added "perverted old man"

"Was captain Hayashi, you're my student now Natsu" he said with an obvious smirk "and I'm not old" I swear he sounded like he was pouting… creepy.

"Hmm seems like she knows of the books…" the Hokage said quietly chuckling

"Books? That's disgusting Kakashi… you really are a pervert" I said looking at him with a straight face. "Hmph any way since it seems that I can't get out of this team… I'll be heading out first and Kakashi… try to be on time" I said coolly before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Kakashi's POV

'man she hasn't changed at all, still has that sweet vanilla scented smoke… ah well at least it shows she has a girly side deep, deep, DEEP down there somewhere' I thought sweat dropping at her slightly mocking parting shot, however I knew that it was her very rare teasing, something I had earned after gaining her respect and trust.

"She hasn't changed at all, with hardly any emotion on that face of hers… I wonder sometimes if the past has too strong a hold on her" I said quietly, the atmosphere in the room turned tense and serious immediately. I turned to look at the Hokage, who had moved to stand next to the window, he seemed so old suddenly.

"I wonder the same thing Kakashi, I wonder if maybe we placed too big a burden on the shoulders of a child… this team and this plan is my last hope to help her to grow and restart time from when it stopped for her, to overcome that fear that she has suppressed for so long… and to give Konoha hope and strength should it ever need it…" he said in a tired voice.

"I'm sure it will all turn out fine, sir, and I'll guide this team to the best of my capacity" I said and then added "you know I see her as my best friend and a younger sister, I will do my best to help her throughout her journey… I promise you this." I said solemnly.

"I know you will Kakashi, train them well and treat them like you would any other team… now go, you do not wish to keep your young students waiting do you?" the Hokage asked me in a humorous tone breaking the tense mood.

"Of course not sir." I said giving a slight smile which was hidden under my mask, and I disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Hokages POV

I watched as the masked, silver haired Jounin disappeared.

"I wish you luck Kakashi, after all the whole village is partly responsible for the hardships faced by those children… Naruto… Natsu… you might be just what the other needs to move forward" I whispered softly letting the breeze carry my heart felt wish for the happiness of the two children. I turned away from the window and carried on with my work… but my mind was somewhere far back in the events of the past.

**Hey everyone! I finally finished this chapter… it was such hard work! I worked on it for almost three days until I was relatively happy. I couldn't resist putting in that one line… I wonder how many of you can guess where it's from, a true blue fan can guess what I'm talking about! Let me know if you know what I'm talking about! As always please read and review, seriously I haven't gotten a single review = (any way I hope to get another chapter out soon! **

**~ .vixen **


	6. Chapter 6: Introductions, not really!

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! The fifth chapter of "Lessons in Living" is out! I finally got reviews! So thanks a lot ****Neo Amon and Shootingcuz for the first two reviews! Also special thanks to ValiantPanther who has been messaging with me and giving me the encouragement I need! If anyone wants feel free to write and give me your opinion on the story and ways to better the writing****.**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

Chapter 5

Natsu's POV

I had left the old man's office and headed back to the classroom, arriving just in time to see that the break had ended and the other teams were heading out with their senseis. 'I knew that damn pervert would be late again…' I thought with a sigh and took a seat. I quietly watched the other three people who were in the room with me, waiting for Kakashi.

Sasuke had taken a seat next to me and seemed to be deep in thought completely ignoring everything that was happening around him. Naruto, as usual was fidgety and impatient complaining constantly about how boring it was and how late the sensei was. Sakura was leaning against a desk close to where Sauke and I were sitting; she seemed to be as annoyed as I was. 'Well what do you know? We seem to share the same feelings on this situation… for once…'

"Guys can be such morons, huh?" I said, referring to the way Naruto and Sasuke were acting, staring blankly at the ceiling; I didn't really expect Sakura to answer. There was silence, which was quite surprising seeing that we had Naruto, the noisiest ninja around in the room. I turned to look at the three, slightly surprised individuals staring my way, a single eyebrow raised in a questioning way.

"Wow Natsu chan, this has to be the first time you've actually spoken to us, otherwise your always silent and you disappear as soon as class is done" Naruto said happily, a big smile on his face, from the corner of my eye I saw Sasuke and Sakura nodding slightly.

"Well… I guess we are a team now so we should atleast talk to each other…. Sometimes" I said a little awkward at the attention I was receiving from all three of them.

I was a little surprised, to say the least, when Sakura giggled a little, "yeah, they can be morons" she said, and then quickly added "but not you Sasuke kun."

Naruto's POV

'Wow! She's got a nice voice when she speaks normally without that cold and sharp tone…' I thought looking at Natsu in surprise.

"Wow Natsu chan, this has to be the first time you're actually talking to us, otherwise you're always silent and you disappear as soon as class is done" I said happily, and then noticed how awkward she'd become 'cute! She's getting embarrassed just because we're talking to her! No wait I like Sakura, Natsu is not cute, Natsu is NOT cute… Sakura IS' I kept thinking until my head hurt. 'Ok… screw this I'm going to set a trap for the stupid sensei for coming late!'

Natsu's POV

After our little conversation there was a peaceful silence, all of us just getting a little more comfortable with the presence of the others… until Sakura broke the silence, by yelling at Naruto of course, for setting up the classic booby trap, a duster on the top of the door.

"Like anyone is going to fall for that trap, especially a Jounin ninja." Sasuke said, sounding confident.

'Idiots, I'm surrounded by absolute idiots' I thought with a sigh. "You'd be surprised." I said softly.

And right then Kakashi decided to make his appearance, and got wacked on the head by the duster. I face palmed, while Naruto burst out laughing, Sakura sucked up, but it was quite obvious that she was doing her best to control her hysterical laughter and Sasuke looked doubtfully at Kakashi. 'I really don't blame him' I thought looking at the man before me sweat dropping slightly at the scene.

"Classy entrance by the way…" I said with a completely straight face, that had Naruto erupting in laughter all over again and Kakashi giving me a slight glare.

Kakashi's POV

I glared slightly at Natsu and then looked at the others in the room. The blonde kid with blue eyes had to be the nine-tail, Naruto Uzumaki; black hair and onyx like eyes was the traits of the Uchiha clan, so the raven haired kid was Sasuke Uchiha the prodigy; then there was Natsu the mysterious and aloof green eyed platinum blonde; so the pinkette had to be the temporary member and medic, Sakura.

'This has got to be the most random team I've ever trained, I really hope you know what you're doing Hokage because I don't see this team being able to work together…' I thought, just a little worried.

"Hmm… how do I put this, my first impression is…" I said rubbing my chin like I was thinking deeply, "I don't like you guys!" I finished cheerfully. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sweat dropped and gave me a weird look.

"That's funny that was my impression the first time meeting you too!" Natsu coolly replied without batting an eyelid. "Touché" I said, grinning underneath my mask, at her.

"Anyway let's get going" I said, and led them outside.

"Let's start with introductions, talk about… umm your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies and stuff like that… okay?" I asked.

"Why don't you start?" Naruto asked, "Yeah you look kinda… suspicious" Sakura continued.

"Fine, my name is Kakashi Hatake, I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes, dreams for the future? Hmmm and hobbies I have many." I stated, ignoring the looks my students were giving me. "Now, you all do it, let's start from the right"

Naruto immediately started bouncing up and down, "my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like cup ramen and the ramen Iruka sensei buys for me from the restaurant. What I dislike is waiting for three minutes while waiting for the cup ramen to cook, my dream is… to surpass the Hokage and have all the people of this village acknowledge my existence! Hobbies… pranks I guess?"

'Well he certainly has grown in an interesting way' I thought and then glanced at Natsu from the corner of my eye, I was surprised, she was actually taking an interest in what he was saying. 'This might actually work; he's managed to catch her interest already.'

"Hmm next" I said turning to look towards the raven haired boy.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, there are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything" he said with a slight glance at the rest of us, "I don't have a dream, rather it's an ambition, to resurrect my clan and kill a certain man." He stated coolly, it was quite obvious that Sakura was fan girling at what he said and how cool he looked, but Natsu seemed interested in the last part of what he said, surprisingly.

"Umm the medic, you go next" I said facing the pinkette.

" My name is Sakura Haruno the thing I like is-" she said looking at Sasuke, and I think that's when everyone stopped paying attention because we all turned to look at the last person waiting to introduce herself formally to her team mates, even Sakura quieted down.

"My name is Natsu Hayashi; you haven't earned my trust or the right to now my likes and dislikes yet. My dream is something that does not concern you as of now, while knowing my hobbies will not benefit you in any way so I'm not wasting my time with it. That's about it."

Naruto's POV 

"Um you do realise that all we learned from that was your name, which we already knew, right?" Sakura asked a little unsure about whether she should ask.

"Yes, that was the point." Was the curt reply she got from Natsu.

'Wow, she's pretty cool! Even cooler than Sasuke, I can't wait to work with her; I'll definitely become friends with her. You'd better watch out Natsu because from now on you're my rival as well!' I thought happily, from the way Sasuke was looking at her I could tell that he was having similar thoughts.

"Alright then, now that that's done… we will be starting our duties tomorrow" Kakashi sensei said. I couldn't wait I was super excited, this was a way to show how good a ninja I really was.

"What kind of duties? Are we going to fight? I can't wait!" I said, jumping up and down excitedly earning strange looks from my team mates and Kakashi sensei.

"First _we _are going to do something, just the five of us…" Kakashi sensei said, "What? What are we doing?" I asked, extremely pumped for my first task. "Survival training" he said blandly.

"Survival training?" I asked a little unsure of what I had heard. The others must have felt the same because Natsu and Sasuke were giving sensei questioning looks, "why is our duty training? We did that at the academy, isn't that enough?" Sakura asked. 'That's actually a good question, as expected of Sakura chan!' I thought looking at her.

"I will be your opponent and this is no ordinary training" sensei said, "Then what is it?" I quickly interrupted him, and that's when he started laughing creepily.

"H-hey sensei, wh-what's so funny" Sakura asked, clearly freaking out about the odd behaviour of our sensei. I had to admit I think all of us freaked, even Sasuke and Natsu looked slightly uncomfortable with the way Kakashi sensei was acting.

"Well I don't know if I should tell you this, I mean I don't _want_ to scare you all…" he said then looked around, taking in our expressions, when no one responded he continued "well the thing is, of 27 graduates only 9 will become genin… the rest are sent back to the academy. The training is a super hard exam with a failure rate of over 66%!" he said, watching as our expressions changed to horror, shock and worry with a little bit of doubt. Only Natsu remained as she was.

"Ha ha, I knew you'd flip if I told you…" Kakashi said, almost smirking under his mask.

"BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TEST WE WORKED SO HARD TO GRADUATE?!" I yelled out the question that was on everyone's mind. "Oh, that was just to check who had the skills and capabilities to have a shot at becoming genin." Was the only reply we got, "tomorrow you will be graded on the field so make sure you bring your Shinobi tools… and skip breakfast, you don't want to throw up!" Kakashi sensei stated, we were all kind of tense, 'I can't afford to fail here' I thought freaking out slightly.

"Well, the details can be read on this print out, don't be late tomorrow." Sensei said, distributing hand-outs.

"Right, if you're done freaking them out Kakashi, and there's nothing important left to be said, I'll be taking my leave first" Natsu stated, getting up from where she had been sitting.

"Um Natsu san, aren't you worried about tomorrow?" Sakura asked; stunned by how relaxed she was after hearing the details of the test.

"Why should I worry?" Natsu asked turning to face us all, her hair glinting in the light, eyes brimming with confidence and her body posture completely relaxed, "it's not going to change the outcome and most importantly I have complete faith in my abilities… well I'm leaving now." She said and suddenly grabbed the railing and swung herself over it, shocking Sakura, myself and Sasuke. Sensei just shook his head slightly "don't worry, she's not stupid, she won't do something like that if it would get her hurt or killed" he said, and to our relief we saw her leaping away onto a nearby rooftop and head away.

Kakashi's POV

"Okay then, I'm heading out too, all the best for tomorrow… you'll probably be needing it…" I told the three kids before me, and then poofed myself away.

'I managed to freak those three out, but Natsu didn't crack… oh well I knew it wouldn't be that easy' I thought while leaping through the village, 'hmm this is her first time training with a group, and the people she's training with, apart from Sakura, have difficult history of their own, I wonder what's going to happen? Ah well I'll get to know if this arrangement has a chance of working out tomorrow…' and with that last thought, I headed home to prepare for the long day ahead of me tomorrow.

**Yay so that's the chapter done! It's like 5 pages long and I had to read through and edit it quite a few times before I was satisfied with it. Updates will be slower because my classes start tomorrow so it will probably be one chapter a week, if I'm lucky!**

**Please Read and review, feel free to send me a message if there is something you'd like me too add or if you think I need to improve and have tips on improving.**

**~ .vixen**


	7. Chapter 7: The Test

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! The sixth chapter of "Lessons in Living" is out! Sorry for the super long delay.**** If anyone wants feel free to write and give me your opinion on the story and ways to better the writing****.**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

Chapter 6

Natsu's POV

'Mm … too bright… and cold!' I thought groggily, curling up in my blankets, 'shoot!' I thought suddenly alert 'Kakashi's test! I have to get ready' and with that thought I quickly got out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom to brush my teeth and have a shower. I quickly pulled on a plain black t-shirt and a pair of loose black pants. I quickly wrap some bandages around my wrist and a little above it, and then pull fingerless gloves over the bandages.

I was just about to gulp down my food when suddenly I realised, 'wait, this is Kakashi we're talking about…' and then proceeded to eat my breakfast at a more leisurely pace. After I was done, I quickly washed the dishes, strapped on the standard issue ninja sandals, looked my door and headed out to the training field.

I arrived at the training field only to find Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura waiting patiently. 'It seems Kakashi isn't here… as expected' I thought with a sigh. I decided not to show my skills to them yet and quickly made my way up to them.

"Have you been waiting here for long?" I asked surprising the three of them with my voice.

"Ah! No way Natsu chan, we just got here." Naruto answered cheerfully. 'Hmm… it's good to see that all three of them are pumped to do this survival test.' I thought, while nodding at the three of them. 'Now we just need to wait for that perv' I thought sighing, and quickly jumped onto a tree branch close by and made myself comfortable for the wait ahead.

After sitting there for hours, I was beginning to think Kakashi wasn't going to turn up.

"Good morn-"Kakashi began, before he was interrupted by synchronised yells of "YOU'RE LATE!" by sakura and Naruto. Sasuke and I just glared at the silver haired Jounin who had kept us waiting for so long.

Kakashi seemed to get the message and quickly moved on to what was required. He walked towards a tree stump and placed an alarm clock on it, "Alright, the clock has been set for noon. I have three bells with me; your task is to take them from me before noon…" He trailed off and then continued with an evil glint in his eyes "those who can't get a bell will get no lunch… not only that but I'll tie you to a tree stump and eat right in front of you."

I quickly glanced at the three standing next to me, and watched as their faces fell, 'so that's why he was so insistent that none of us ate before coming, too bad Kakashi you know I don't listen to you…' I thought watching the bells glint slightly in the sunlight.

Kakashi looked at the four of us seriously, "you only need to take one bell; however there are three bells and four of you which will mean that one of you four is definitely getting tied up, and the person who fails will be sent back to the academy… you can even use weapons, because you definitely won't be able to succeed unless you come at me with an intention to kill."

"B-but you could get hurt!" sakura yelled, clearly freaking out. "Yeah you couldn't even dodge a black board eraser" Naruto said laughing loudly.

"In the real world, those with no talent bark the loudest, Mr. Dead last" Kakashi said in a slightly annoyed tone, "well then, you all will start when I say so-" Kakashi told all four of us, ignoring Narutos furious look, until he decided to attack.

Naruto grabbed his kunai out of his pouch on his leg and ran towards Kakashi. 'Oh god, I can't believe he's just blindly attacking a Jounin and those two are following… add to that it's not any Jounin, it's Kakashi… this is not going to end well for him' I thought shaking my head slightly in disappointment.

Kakashi quickly grabbed Naruto's hand, the one holding the kunai, and placed his other hand on Narutos head, much to Naruto's surprise, and before Sasuke, sakura or Naruto, for that matter, could react Naruto had his own kunai pointing at his neck.

'I knew it…' I thought with a slight sigh observing the freaked out, but awe filled faces, the three of them had. 'But this makes me want to take on Kakashi on my own, just to see were both of us stand now' I thought controlling the feral desire to grab my sword and clash with Kakashi.

"I haven't even said start yet…" Kakashi said looking at the three who had charged. "Stop your whining Kakashi and get a move on already" I said coolly my body posture relaxed. "Heh, I'm beginning to like you guys… well then, BEGIN" Kakashi said clearly ignoring me, and the five of us quickly jumped away.

'hmmm… something's off, Kakashi is pretty strong, I mean even while comparing him to the ANBU he's pretty high up in fighting skills so why would he give a test like this? I would be the only one with a hope of passing… those three won't be able to face Kakashi alone…' I thought while I watched Naruto yelling and screaming at Kakashi to fight him. 'Umm… seriously? Does he really not get the point that we're ninjas? We use stealth and hiding… and he goes and does the exact opposite.' I thought sweat dropping slightly at the idiot before me and his antics, while continuing to think about what Kakashi was aiming at.

'OH MY GOD!' I thought after pondering for a few minutes, 'I'm such a fool' I thought, mentally kicking myself. 'He never said we had to do this alone… the objective of this exercise is teamwork… you sly, conniving bastard' I thought watching the others around me carefully, noticing that Kakashi had taken out his pervy book, I shuddered slightly 'disgusting… I don't know how he reads that trash' I thought glaring at the bright orange book.

My attention was suddenly ripped from the book as I noticed Naruto charging at Kakashi to attack, I watched as Naruto kept throwing punches, and Kakashi kept dodging until he was suddenly behind Naruto. I noticed that Kakashi's hand was in the form of the tiger seal.' A Jutsu, wow Kakashi's actually going to use a Jutsu…' I thought excited, creeping forward ever so slightly.

Sakura must have had the same thought, because I could suddenly hear her screaming at Naruto to get away. While Kakashi quickly moved forward with his attack.

"Hidden leaf ancient taijutsu supreme technique: A 1000 YEARS OF PAIN" Kakashi yelled jabbing Naruto's butt with his fingers.

'Idiots… I'm surrounded by idiots…' I thought, my face getting extremely hot. I couldn't lift my head up; I didn't know why but I couldn't look the other two in the eye after what I had seen. I glanced to the side and saw Sakura and Sasuke looking at me with funny looks on their faces.

Sakura's POV 

I watched as Naruto got jabbed in the ass by Kakashi and then landed in the lake that was close by, shaking my head at the stupidity. I looked to the side and noticed how red her ears were, she quickly glanced towards me and I saw how red her face was, I could almost see the smoke from her overheated face.

'OH MY GOD!' I mentally squealed, 'as much as I hate to admit it… that is quite cute.' I thought and suddenly noticed Sasuke who was also looking at her from his hiding place. 'Nooo he thinks she's cute too, it's so obvious he does… he never blushes at anything!' I thought freaking out at the thought of the competition Natsu would pose, to win Sasuke's heart.

Natsu's POV

'Okay this is awk-ward' I thought in the back of my mind, watching Kakashi but feeling the two pairs of eye staring at me. I watched as Naruto jumped out of the lake and began fighting with Kakashi, my mind was soon far away from the fight before me, quickly thinking of strategies to defeat Kakashi. My eyes quickly snapped back to Naruto when I heard a yell, and was greeted by the sight of Naruto dangling from a tree… I sweat dropped slightly and decided that it was time to start with some team work.

I stepped out from my hiding place and quickly made my way towards Naruto, who had just gotten out from that trap… and straight into another one of the same kind. I shook my head slightly, still trying to digest the fact that this was what I had to work with.

"So, um, Naruto… do you want to work together?" I asked, watching the boy as he patted the dust off of himself.

"Sorry Natsu chan, but I need to prove to everyone that I am strong and I don't need to depend on other people…" he said before taking off.

'That's one down, hopefully the other two will agree… yeah, not likely' I thought with a slight sigh.

I heard a shrill scream from somewhere in the forest, that I immediately recognised as sakura, and headed that way only to find her unconscious and foaming at the mouth… I sweat dropped slightly at her twitching form and quickly released her from the genjutsu she was under.

"Sakura, you won't be able to beat Kakashi by yourself so… how about we form a team?" I asked in a slightly bored monotone. "That's a great idea! I'll ask Sasuke if he wants to team up with me, thanks Natsu!" was the only reply I got from the pinkette before she raced off to find Sasuke.

'I really should have seen that coming…' I thought to myself as I searched for the, at the moment, elusive Uchiha.

'Oh my dear lord… I did not see this coming' I thought as I stumbled upon Sasuke's head. "Duck-butt, hey… you still alive?" I asked as I nudged his head with my foot, an annoyed "hn" was all I got from the boy.

"OH MY GOD IT'S HIS SEVERED HEAD!"

'Oh, so she's finally here… took her long enough' I thought as I turned just in time to see Sakura fall in faint. 'It worries me that I have become used to their stupidity.' I thought as Sasuke and I glanced, away from Sakura's still form, and at each other questioningly as to what had just happened…

"Anyway, I have a proposition for you" I told Sasuke as I set about getting him out of the ground, "lets team up." I bluntly stated as he got up and brushed the dirt off him.

"Thanks for getting me out of there, but I don't need to team up, other people will just slow me down. Not only that but I need to get stronger… I need to complete this on my own so that I can show THAT person how much I've improved and that I'm not the same as last time." He said and with one last brush of his clothes he ran after Kakashi.

I grabbed Sakura from where she lay and placed her under the shade of a few trees. 'Man she's heavy…' I thought stretching myself out, 'looks like I have no choice but to challenge him myself' I thought, feeling that sudden restlessness and excitement from facing an exciting new challenge.

'I hope your ready Kakashi' I thought and set about to where the masked man was standing.

I neared where Kakashi was leaning against a tree, reading that dirty book of his. "You do realise that they haven't figured it out yet, right?" I asked casually while tightening my fingerless gloves and checking the bandages I had tied around my wrist and a little above it.

"I wasn't expecting them to get it… they really do need a colossal amount of work don't they" he said sighing heavily, "but that's not what you're here for, is it?" he questioned putting his bright orange book away.

"You know me too well… old man" I mocked before running towards him for a punch.

"Well then how about making this interesting? Only taijutsu, nothing else" he said, as he grabbed my arm, and my knee that I had just attempted to ram into him.

"Bring it" I said with a slight smirk on my face, before flipping over him and kicking upward, my leg connected with his hand that he had used to block and capture my leg. He drew his other arm back and swung towards me, but before he touched me, I quickly bent backwards, using my hand to hold me upside down while my other leg went up to ram Kakashi in the face, and it would have if he hadn't let go of me, and moved his face back.

"tch… so close" I murmured to myself as a small cut formed on Kakashi's mask, due to the speed and force I had used, and cut his cheek a bit. "Well looks like I'm going to have to get serious as well" Kakashi said, smirking under his damned mask. He quickly punched me in the gut before I could even react, and I was sent crashing into a few trees.

"Now that's more like the fight I was anticipating" I said coolly while wiping the little line of blood from my lip. We both ran towards each other rapidly throwing punches and kicks while dodging as many of those punches and kicks that were aimed at us. We were moving pretty quickly, and if someone had been watching our fight they probably would have seen only two blurs clashing with each other.

I quickly decided that it was time to end this fight as I had received a good number of bruises and direct hits, more than what I had given Kakashi. I quickly noticed that he was getting ready to kick me so I slid under him, just as he let his leg fly towards me, the adrenaline from this fight was incredible and as I slid it felt like time itself had slowed down so as to let me savour this fight, the fight I had been craving.

I quickly came up behind Kakashi, my kunai at his neck, just to notice his kunai was pressed against my chest, ready to stab me in the heart. I quickly withdrew my kunai and stretched my body, feeling all the aches and bruises I had got.

"Well it looks like you win again this time, Kakashi" I said nonchalantly. "Eh?! I thought it was a draw both our kunais were aimed at vital spots!" he exclaimed slightly.

"True… but you managed to land way more hits on me, so it's your win" I stated just as the bell went-off. "Hmm, what do you know time's up and none of them got the bell" I said to Kakashi as I walked towards the three stumps where I could see three figures. Naruto was tied to a stump, while Sakura and Sasuke just stood there waiting for us.

They were pretty shocked when they saw the both of us and were pretty much causing chaos asking what happened to us. "First of all, shut up" I said in a dangerous tone that got them to shut up, "and secondly what happened to us is none of your damned business." I said keeping all emotions off my face.

"You guys look hungry", Kakashi said scanning over the three of them while I leaned on stump close to them. "Oh, and about the training… you don't have to go back to the academy…" he said watching the happy and surprised faces of Sakura and Naruto, hell even Sasuke seemed more cheerful.

"Yeah," Kakashi smiled happily and continued, "The three of you should quit as Shinobi!"

I watched quietly from the side as the three of them looked shocked and depressed. "Wait! You said three of us… what about Natsu?" Sakura asked glaring ever so slightly at me. I didn't really feel like responding to her so I just pulled a bell from my pocket much to the amazement of the other three and Kakashi.

"WHAT THE HELL! WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM?" Kakashi yelled in surprise while vigorously patting around to check if he had all 3 bells on him.

"Obviously from where the other bells are…" I said straight faced. "Yes, I figured that much atleast" Kakashi said, calming down and pulling out 2 bells from his belt. "When did you take it?" he asked curiously, "just before we ended our fight, remember when I slid under you? I grabbed it while sliding" I said not really paying attention to them, as they spoke.

My attention was suddenly drawn back to them only when Sasuke dashed towards Kakashi, only to be flipped and stepped on by Kakashi.

"… and this is why you all are just punks" Kakashi said looking at them. "The answer to solving this test was-"he said solemnly

"It was teamwork" I interrupted him, while shifting away from the tree and walking towards them, "if you wanted to pass, you should have worked together. The three of you were so caught up in either proving yourself, or getting together with a guy or just being a duck- Ass, you completely missed the point of the exercise… even when I approached you to form a team. Instead of putting the mission above everything else, you put your own goals above everything else… it was … an insult to what a Shinobi is." I said quietly looking each one of my three partners in the eye to show how serious I am about what I said, and then walked towards the stone memorial, engraved with all the names of the Shinobi who had died while on duty, while Kakashi explained to them what the stone meant.

'But a measly stone just allows you to remember them and their heroic deeds… it does not bring any of them back… but I'm better and stronger… I've learnt from my mistake…' I thought as Kakashi said something about another chance, and not feeding Naruto, before he poofed away.

I grabbed my box of food and finished quarter of it before holding it out to Naruto. "You need the food to keep your strength up" I said quietly while Sakura and Sasuke followed my lead. "And anyway I ate breakfast… I'm not the kind to listen to what Kakashi say's" I said, as Kakashi appeared and told them that we all passed, causing all three to jump around and chatter with excitement, as they prepared to leave.

'They seem so happy…' I thought as I released Naruto from the stump so that we could join the others, I turned and looked at the stone memorial one last time, 'and for their sake, I hope it lasts awhile…' I thought as I walked away from the grounds along with my new team.

**Yay I'm finally done! It took so long to complete this chapter 'coz my classes have started… the fight scene was pretty hard! If you have any suggestions, or inputs as to improving Natsu's fighting skills please feel free to write to me! As always read and review please=)**


	8. Chapter 8 : Am I a Monster?

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! I present to you the seventh chapter of "lessons in living"! I'm pretty happy right now; this story has passed 1,000 views, so thanks to all the people who read the story and especially to those people who put it in their favourite list and alert list, please continue to like the story!**** If anyone wants feel free to write and give me your opinion on the story and ways to better the writing****.**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

**P.P.S. – For those who were wondering what Natsus theme song might be, it's standing in the rain by superchick!**

Chapter 7

Naruto's POV

Team 7 had just finished another boring mission, babysitting some kids who were absolute brats. 'Man those kids just wouldn't sit still… uhh, I'm exhausted!' I thought while stretching and working the knots in my shoulder. I plopped myself in the shade of a tree and leaned against its trunk, enjoying the peaceful moment.

I heard the slight rustling of clothes, as somebody slid down the trunk of the tree and sat on other side.

"Why are you here teme?" I asked Sasuke a little confused, he never sits with me. "Don't tell me those brats managed to get under the skin of the ever cool Sasuke Uchiha" I said, holding in a laugh. An angry "hn" was the only reply I got before we lapsed back into blessed silence.

"Sooo… what do you think of the team so far?" I asked, trying to be civil.

"It's okay, I guess… our sensei seems pretty strong" he said sounding slightly contemplative.

"Yeah, but he seems a little too… laid back" I said as both of us recollected our sensei's weirdness. "On the other hand Sakura seems pretty cool, we're totally lucky we have her as our team medic!" I said, while Sasuke scoffed slightly and for some strange reason I agreed with him… it confused me, wasn't I supposed to be crushing on her, she was the one for me after all…

"Any way what do you think about Natsu? Have you noticed she hardly ever helps out during our missions, she's always in the shadows just watching." I asked sulking slightly.

"Yeah, but she seemed really jumpy about today's mission, she wouldn't get too close to does kids" he said, and I had to agree even I had noticed her odd behaviour.

"Uh-huh it was quite weird she seemed quite-"I said before I was interrupted.

"Didn't anyone teach you boys it's rude talk about somebody behind their back" a soft, almost melodious voice, if not for the cold, hard undertones which lay beneath it, said.

I looked up, slightly shocked… Natsu was sitting on a branch mid-way the tree! She was wearing baggy three-fourth cargos with bandages wrapped up her legs; her feet covered with the standard ninja sandals. Her green shirt was half sleeved and was loose for her, her arms covered in bandages till her elbows as well; her gloves were fingerless half gloves which were black and green, but it was her pale face and large green eyes, which were shining with some spark that I hadn't seen before, that really caught my attention. I felt my heart beat increase a little and my jaw drop as she jumped off the branch and easily flipped to land gracefully on her feet.

Natsu's POV 

I was sitting on the tree a few feet above Naruto and Sasuke. They had been talking about the team and I wasn't really paying attention until I heard my name.

"Any way what do you think about Natsu? Have you noticed she hardly ever helps out during our missions, she's always in the shadows just watching?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, but she seemed really jumpy about today's mission, she wouldn't get too close to does kids" Sasuke said, 'shit, they noticed… was I that obvious?' I questioned myself slightly angry with myself for letting them realise.

"Uh-huh it was quite weird she seemed quite-"Naruto said before I interrupted him, "Didn't anyone teach you boys its rude talk about somebody behind their back" I asked, watching them from my branch, slightly amused by the looks of shock on both their faces but I hid it well this time. I quickly leaped off the branch, flipping over once and landing gracefully, there was barely any noise when I landed.

"N-Natsu? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked getting over his shock slightly.

"I was relaxing… it's quite peaceful here…" I said trailing off as I looked around the field.

"Yeah… um Natsu why were you so restless during the mission today?" Naruto asked cautiously, while Sasuke was peering from his side of the tree, wanting to know the answer.

I felt my body stiffen, my walls were up again, "That is something you don't need to know" I said, my voice as cold as ice and as sharp as a blade, I saw them both flinch at the tone I used.

I could see that they were just about to ask me something else when a shrill cry caused all of us to cringe.

"SASUKE KUN" Sakura screamed happily, ruining the peaceful atmosphere the three of us had been enjoying. "I was looking everywhere for you!" she said before noticing Naruto and I. she frowned slightly, "why are you sitting with these losers?" she asked snootily, before she remembered something and pulled Sasuke close to her, "soo why don't we go for a date?" she asked trying to act cute and shy, but failing miserably.

Sasuke wriggled free from her grip on his arm, shot Naruto and I an apologetic glance, and ran for his life. 'I don't really blame him for running, man it must be tough being so popular I thought' as I watched the obnoxious pinkette chase after him.

"Soo we'll talk to each other later right? Unless you want to hang out with me right now…" Naruto asked sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. I tilted my head slightly observing him, wondering why I felt so happy when he made an attempt to talk to me… I was a monster, I had done so many bad things… did I deserve to talk to him?

I surprised myself when I heard my voice saying "I'm busy right now but maybe we can meet sometime else…" I sounded monotonous, but I wasn't sounding as frigid as I usually do, I watched him give me a bright smile and then run off to wherever he was going giving me a wave while running.

'Well then… time to get ready…' I thought with slight distaste, wiping all emotions off my face.

-TIME SKIP-

It was getting dark; the sun was nearly all the way down turning the sky a pinkish-orange hue. I picked up the folder that had been sent to me, containing information on a missing Nin, one who had become quite dangerous and had managed to kill the Anbu ninjas sent before me.

'Uhh… I hate this part of the job, oh well; my hands are already so dirty a new stain will not make much of a difference…' I thought as I watched the moon slowly rise.

I quickly changed into my all black Anbu uniform; even the white cloth was dyed black so as to allow me to merge with the shadows. My ninja sandals and pure black gloves covered my bandage bound hands and feet, while my long silvery white hair was in a tight braid.

I clambered onto my roof top and surveyed the quiet, sleeping village before pulling on my white fox mask to cover my face. I made sure that nobody had noticed me and then quickly leaped away towards the next town where the missing ninja was last seen.

I quietly reached the apartment where the man was staying and watched him for some time as he cleaned his weapons and pottered around the house, setting up his traps and ensuring that nobody could sneak up on him. I settled down as comfortably as possible, so that I could rest after my quick 3 hour journey of running and leaping as fast as I could, I had managed to squeeze an almost full day journey into a few hours, and would probably have to do the same while getting back so as to ensure I reached home before it was too bright to sneak in.

I watched as the missing nin slowly fell asleep and after a half hour wait I quietly snuck in. I had just raised my kunai, about to slit his throat when his eyes shot open.

"I am sorry, but it is my mission to kill you… don't resist and it will be as quick and painless as possible" I said in a soft, calm voice as I looked straight into his fear-filled eyes and slit his throat, his life blood spraying everywhere, including on me, splattering me in ruby red.

And then I ran…

I made it all the way to the woods near Konoha, and ran to my special place, where I could train, enjoy the quiet and solitude and piece my shattered soul together again.

My special place is beyond beautiful; it's a waterfall with a stretch of land where I train. Behind the falls is a natural cave where I can stay whenever I need to get away from the village and when I'm desperate to isolate myself.

I quickly sat in front of the lake, the roar of the waterfall drowning out all other sounds, and as the sun slowly made its way up the sky I scrubbed my hands trying to rid myself of all the blood that stained my hands… scrubbing even after the blood on my hands was gone.

"OH MY GOD! NATSU, WHY ARE YOU COVERED IN BLOOD?" I heard Naruto scream. I turned looking at him, "covered in blood?" I asked blankly, 'how does he know? That I have blood on my hands' I pondered, my mind in the process of getting out of its blank state, I watched him as he quickly approached me, grabbed my hand pulling and seating me, so that I could see myself in the water. My face and clothes were splattered with blood making my green eyes stand out.

He then sat next to me and proceeded to wash the blood of my face gently, 'why is he so gentle? I'm not fragile… I definitely won't break' I randomly thought, even though a small part of my mind quietly chided me for enjoying his gentleness, something which was rarely used when dealing with me.

"Hey are you ok?" he asked softly, as he wiped the last of the red liquid off, "yeah" I replied, and then it suddenly struck me, "what are you doing here?" I asked slightly curious and upset that my secret special place had been found.

"eh heh heh, I was training" he said scratching his head slightly embarrassed, "so who did you have to kill…" he asked, and then on noticing my strange look he chuckled slightly and continued, "there's no way somebody who lost that much blood can still be alive…" he said.

"That's classified" I said, and heard him mutter "of course it is" under his breath, I ignored it just shooting a confused look at him, and continued a little cautious "why are you so kind to me? I just killed someone and might have been the cause for many others… I'm a monster that causes death…" I whispered slightly, my emotionless mask slipping of ever so slightly.

Naruto sighed slightly looking a little sad, "Did you kill any of them because you wanted to? Did you enjoy when you killed whoever you did?" he asked completely serious. It startled me, I had never thought of that.

"No, I didn't kill anyone because I wanted too… and I definitely don't enjoy it…" I murmured quietly. "I didn't think so, anybody who enjoyed killing would NOT be sitting there looking like that and scrubbing her arms like crazy" he said and then suddenly he gave me a quick hug and held me an arms width away so as to ensure that I would look at him, "your definitely not a monster, a monster would not feel remorse or act the way you did after killing… and any way your my team mate, rival and most importantly my friend… so next time talk to me rather than trying to act all cool, and keeping everything to yourself" he said with a slight blush, he then jumped up and turned, about to leave, "by the way we have another mission today, we have to report in a few hours… so rest" he said before leaving.

'A friend… sounds nice' I thought smiling slightly, still sitting where he had pulled me. I got up and brushed the dirt off me and headed home to prepare for meeting the team today.

I reached home without meeting anyone, thankfully, and immediately headed to the bathroom for a shower, quite happy to get out of my bloodied clothes and wash the blood off. I quickly washed off and changed into a red tank top and a pair of slim, black pants. I quickly crammed some food into my mouth, slipped on my ninja sandals, strapped on my kunai holder onto my right thigh and dashed out to meet the rest of my team.

I ran down the street and nearly collided into Sakura, "oh, I was just looking for you guys…" I said, "Your quite happy today, did something good happen?" Kakashi asked smiling down at me, noticing my red top. I glanced at Naruto who was giving me an encouraging smile, "yeah" I answered flashing a small smile, shocking the four of them, "so what's the mission for today?" I asked a little embarrassed.

"Hmm… oh yeah, we need to catch Tora… the others have been briefed, you just have to stick with Sakura, okay?" Kakashi said, and we all split.

We all got into position, and I was searching for this Tora person when suddenly Sakura's communication device crackled to life, "are you in position?" Kakashi's voice came through the device. We heard Naruto and Sasuke reply in affirmative before Sakura informed the others that we were in position as well, "GO "Kakashi ordered, but I still hadn't spotted the person so, I was quite shocked when Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke leaped out of their positions.

I watched, slightly alarmed, as Naruto grabbed a little brownish thing off the ground and it scratched his face while hissing at the other two.

"It's a cat!" I said as I stepped forward towards Naruto and the hissing cat, "so cute… I've never seen one before" I said, watching the animal with a slight look of wonderment on my face, I ignored the shocked looks of my team mates and Kakashi's happy grin. I was quite stunned when Tora suddenly jumped away from Naruto and landed straight in my arms, snuggling into my arms.

"You're quite hard to catch, you know that? You could probably give ninjas a run for their money!" I said stroking the purring cat; Sakura and Sasuke were very shocked from my sudden change while Kakashi and Naruto seemed quite happy. 'I-I think I might l-like this team…' I thought as I cuddled the cat and glanced at my happy team mates.

"Well then better return the cat to its owner…" Kakashi said as he led us away. I was quite reluctant to leave the cat it was quite warm and cute, especially since its owner seemed intent on squishing it… causing us to sweat drop slightly especially when Naruto started laughing hysterically yelling that the stupid cat deserved it for nearly scratching his face off…

"That went well, good job team… so are you up for another mission?" Kakashi asked, getting a happy and excited reply from Sakura and Naruto while Sasuke and I just quietly nodded, I stretched just as we reached the Hokage tower. The four of us quite excited about what mission we would get this time, and with that we entered the tower to see what mission we would get.

**YAY! The chapters done, Natsu's slowly changing and the teams coming together =) to all those people who were waiting to see real interaction I hope it came up to your standards! Special thanks to ValiantPanther for the Tora idea, love ya loads! If anyone has any ideas or situations they would like to see, please send me a message. As always rate and review please!**


	9. Chapter 9 : It's the First time!

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone its .vixen! Here's the eight chapter of "lessons in living" sorry it was updated so late, please don't kill me! The story has passed 1,000 views, but I hardly have any reviews= (. I would love to hear your opinions! But in any case please continue to like the story!**** If anyone wants feel free to write and give me your opinion on the story and ways to better the writing****.**

**P.S. – I do not own Naruto, only the characters I have created. **

Chapter 8

Natsu's POV

We walked into the Hokages office to collect our next mission. We'd been doing easy missions so far, so Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and I were really looking forward to getting a new mission that was slightly more… challenging.

"Hmm… team 7… ah yes, your new missions are babysitting an Elder's grandson, shopping in the neighbouring village and help digging up potatoes" the Hokage said.

"NO, NO, NO, NO THANK YOU! I want to do a totally amazing new mission, so find us a better one!" Naruto yelled, he could make such a fuss when he wanted to but I agreed with him, these tasks were boring… and from the expression on the other two's faces, sakura and Sasuke agree completely.

"NARUTO YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE JUST A ROOKIE! EVERYONE STARTS OFF WITH THE SAME TYPE OF TASKS AND THEN WORK THEIR WAY UP, DO YOU GET IT?!" Iruka was screaming as well by now… seriously those two are so loud, it isn't funny, if this continues I'm going to go deaf at a very young age.

I finally decided to intervene; I was dying to get a decent mission. "He's right you know… how long do you plan on giving out such retarded missions, Gramps? These missions are so stupid; they have absolutely no educational value…" I said from my place, leaning against a wall behind the three, standing close to Kakashi, watching the scene before me.

The Hokage and Iruka both shot me dirty looks, I just shrugged, "sorry, but I seriously think he has a point, we've been getting the crappiest assignments ever…" I said slightly nonchalant about what would happen, it's not like it would make that much of a difference to me.

The Hokage then proceeded to give a lecture of some sort but I wasn't really paying attention, in fact I could tell that Kakashi and Sasuke were also ignoring the lecture and were discussing ramen with Naruto, I was listening in on the discussion, having never eaten ramen, but the conversation was extremely amusing.

"WILL YOU PAY ATTENTION!" the Hokage yelled, extremely peeved by the fact that none of us had been paying any attention to what he had just been rambling about.

"Eh heh heh sorry 'bout that…" Kakashi said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Geez you're always giving me lectures, but I'm not just some prank loving brat you know… I've become more than that, I've grown up a little, I'm a ninja!" Naruto said sitting on the ground, facing away from the Hokage and Iruka and pouting cutely.

'Wait a minute… did I just think Naruto looked a little cute?' I thought a little confused; I glanced at him again, completely ignoring the conversation… 'hmm, it's only because he looks like a little kid… or some tiny animal because of the whisker marks… yes that's it… exactly like Tora…' I thought slightly relieved.

"Ok… if you want it that much, I'll give you a c-rank mission" the Hokage said calmly while both he and Iruka smiled.

"Huh?!" I said thoroughly confused, apparently the others were as confused as I was, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke were stunned.

"Your mission will be to protect a certain individual" the Hokage said holding back a smile, "YAY!" Naruto yelled while the rest of us were still getting over the sudden turn of events. "So who is it? A Feudal Lord? A Princess? WAHAHAHA! I'm so excited!" Naruto said bouncing around, much to the amusement of the adults in the room, though Sasuke and Sakura seemed annoyed.

"Calm down" the Hokage said, glancing at the group in front of him, "Hey will you come in here?" he continued calling out to someone standing behind the door.

"WHAT! These are just a bunch of brats…" the man who stepped into the room said, taking a sip from the bottle he was holding. "Especially those two…what's the shorty with the stupid face and that tiny girl definitely can't protect herself, let alone someone else…" he stated.

"Huh who's the tiny one with a stupid face?" Naruto asked measuring the four of us, 'oh man he's gonna kick up a fuss when he realises' I thought slightly peeved by what the old man had said.

"Hey! That's mean Natsu might be short, but she doesn't have a stupid face" Naruto yelled, in my defence… apparently, 'how the hell did he deduce that? I mean sure I'm almost his height but it was the second part of the old man's speech that was directed at me…' I thought sweat dropping slightly.

"Um… Naruto, I believe that was meant for you, I'm the tiny girl who supposedly can't protect herself… unless you want to be called that" I said with a perfectly straight face, it seems like he got it because the next moment he was yelling about how he was going to kill the man and creating a ruckus, while I observed the old man before us. He looked atleast 50 years old, wearing a black sleeveless top, with a white cloth tied around the middle, he also wore a pair of lined trousers. He reeked of alcohol and was slightly red in the face thanks to his drink.

"Uh…Naruto? What's the point of killing someone you're supposed to protect idiot" I said with a slight sigh while shaking my head at his stupidity, "and don't you think you've had enough to drink already, you smelly old geezer" I said with a smile on my face, even though the darker than black aura I was giving off was a clear indication of how annoyed I truly was.

"Right, then we'll leave in an hour" Kakashi said, intervening in the fight that was about to break out. He glanced at me quickly taking in the rapidly increasing rate at which my mood was crumbling, and then continued "so mister, why don't you introduce yourself?" he said trying to diffuse the tension in the air. "I am Tazuna –"

"You need protection to reach your destination right?" I interrupted, slightly bored.

"Yeah… how'd you know?" the old man asked a little weary, "you don't need to know that, and that's all I needed to know… I'll meet you three at the gate" I said calmly walking away, "Oh and Kakashi be there on time please" and with that I was gone, leaving behind nervous looking Hokage and Iruka, an awestruck Naruto, a glaring Sakura, an impressed Sasuke, an amused Kakashi and a freaked out Tazuna.

-AN HOUR LATER -

I had packed everything I needed and had changed into a fitting black sleeveless turtle neck top and a pair of black shorts. I quickly put on my weights around my wrists and ankle and covered them up with bandages around three fourth of my arm from my hand as well as from my feet to my calves. I braided my hair, tied my Konoha headband around my neck like a collar, slipped on my ninja sandals and headed out towards the gate.

I was pretty surprised when I saw Kakashi standing there beside sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna. "Oh my god the world is going to end! Kakashi is on time for once" I stated, I was in a pretty good mood so I gave them a tiny smile, well the sides of my lips curled upwards a bit, but they noticed and were stumped.

"ALRIGHT LETS GO" Naruto yelled thoroughly excited, "what are you so excited about?" Sakura asked snootily, "Because I've never left the village before!" Naruto said excited, my heart soared at the fact that I wasn't alone when it came to this being a first time for something.

"Hey you're sure I'm safe right?" Tazuna asked a little unsure as we set off to the land of waves, "eh heh heh, yeah well I'm a Jounin, so don't worry…" Kakashi said from behind as I was looking around with interest.

"HEY OLD MAN YOU DON'T MESS WITH NINJAS! PLUS I'M AN AWESOME NINJA NO NEED TO WORRY!"

"This is my first time too… going out during the day, without rushing and walking with other people" I whispered softly to myself.

"Eh! Really?" Naruto questioned me, excited that he had company while Sakura and Sasuke looked at me curiously as to why I would be rushing around, at night. I couldn't believe I said that out loud, and apparently neither could Kakashi, who was giving me a weird look which seemed slightly happy; he gave me a smile… I think… it's so hard to make out these things when he had his damn mask on.

That's when Naruto grabbed my hand and yanked me forward to move along with his pace, "Then there's all the more reason for us to look about and enjoy the mission, right?" he cheered while thrusting his fist into the air. I was quite surprised, 'is- is it alright to have fun and enjoy while on missions?' I mentally questioned, it went against what I had been taught, what I did, it questioned my beliefs…

"Come on Natsu, you need to agree with me and raise your hand too!" Naruto said while a mischievous grin crept on to his face. I looked over at Kakashi, I was unsure as to what I should, he just smiled, giving me a slight nod and a discreet thumbs up.

"A-Alright!" I shakily said while awkwardly thrusting my arm as he had, "Yeah! That's the spirit Natsu; we are going to enjoy this mission!" Naruto said happily.

The trip was quite enjoyable surprisingly even though Naruto and Tazuna kept arguing… it was much more fun than travelling alone. We were halfway through our journey when suddenly a puddle caught my attention. 'Eh… why is there a puddle here? - oh shit!' I thought realising what this meant.

I glanced at Kakashi noticing that he too had realised the same thing as I had and we both immediately shifted to high alert, even though it seemed like nothing much had changed about us.

We had just passed the puddle when suddenly chains were wrapped around Kakashi, ripping him apart. I knew Kakashi wouldn't be killed that easily, and that was just a clone so I pulled out a kunai, and readied myself to attack the two ninjas before us.

Naruto's POV 

I watched as Kakashi sensei got ripped to pieces, I was frozen in place.

"Ka-KAKASHI SENSEI!" I screamed, my mind shutting down completely, I could only watch as the two ninjas appeared close to me.

"Two down" they stated, chilling me to my bones.

'I am going to die' was the only thought running through my head as I watched the chains that killed my sensei, make their way to me.

I heard the loud clash of metal hitting metal, confirming what I was seeing… Sasuke had trapped the chains to a tree, I was safe I thought slightly relived until they let go of their chains.

Crap…

I watched, stunned as one of the ninjas headed towards me while the other ran towards the bridge builder and Sakura.

'NO SAKURA! Sasuke!' I mentally screamed as I watched Sakura standing protectively before Tazuna san, while Sasuke took a similar stance in front of Sakura.

And that's when I saw her…

Her movements were sharp and yet graceful at the same time, she had an extremely feral beauty in her movements…

I watched her kick the enemy ninja away from Sasuke and Sakura, and straight into a tree. She then moved so quickly she appeared right in front of the ninja her kunai at his throat.

'A huntress finishing of her prey' I thought to myself, unable to pull my eyes away from her.

I had to train harder than before I had to get closer to her level if I wanted to even dream of becoming Hokage… I was excited, my heart was thumping… a part of me wanted to challenge her, while the other part screamed at the fact that she could have been hurt… though I didn't know why that bothered me so much, probably because she was my teammate and rival I thought with a slight nod.

"It's rude to stare you know" Kakashi sensei stated from next to me, the ninja who was about to attack me under his arm.

"I wasn't staring… I was just looking at her for some time!" I said defensively.

"Umm… Naruto, that **is **staring" Kakashi sensei stated with a slight sweat drop.

"Sorry about that though Naruto, I got you injured" Kakashi said to me before turning to sakura and Sasuke, praising them and then moving towards Natsu to tie the two ninja up.

I was upset; Sasuke could fight so calmly during his first actual fight while I froze. He even saved me… I was so disappointed in myself.

"Hey! You alright, **scaredy cat?**" Sasuke taunted, I glared at him; I was pissed.

"That's enough Sasuke…" Natsu stated coolly from where she was holding the enemy ninja against the tree. I gave her grateful smile.

"Naruto, their claws were soaked in poison… we'll have to open up the wound and drain the poison from your body; don't move around too much 'kay?" Kakashi sensei stated from next to Natsu.

I was shocked. I had been poisoned! I looked towards Natsu, she seemed calm but even I could tell she was angry about something.

'I need to work harder, and get stronger… I will become stronger, strong enough to protect my loved ones and become Hokage…' I thought extremely determined.

Kakashi's POV

Natsu and I had just finished tying up the two enemy ninjas. I knew she had drawn the same conclusion as I had because she seemed pretty angry about something. I knew Naruto had also noticed Natsu's anger because he was looking at her with a small frown on his face, deep in thought.

"Tazuna San, we need to talk" I stated while Natsu turned and gave a cold glare.

"These guys are chunnin ninja from the Hidden Village of Mist." I stated solemnly before continuing, "They are known to keep fighting no matter what…"

"How did you read our movements?" one of the mist ninjas asked.

I opened my mouth to answer when Natsu interrupted me with a slight snort.

"Pathetic" she scoffed at the tied up ninjas. "On a sunny day like this, when it hasn't rained in days… a puddle of water shouldn't exist." She said sounding extremely bored.

"We could have killed you in minutes if we wished…" she said obviously covering up the fact that she meant only me and herself.

"Why did you let the brats fight if you knew that?!" Tazuna turned to me, questioning me.

"Oh sure, ignore the person whose giving you answers just because she isn't an old perverted man…" Natsu murmured under her breath causing me to smile. This team had been good for her; she was speaking a lot more now.

"There was something I needed to find out" I said before pausing for dramatic effect, "… who their target was…"

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked looking slightly nervous.

"Well…-" I began wondering how to tell them.

"He wanted to know if they were after you or one of us" Natsu butted in and stated my reasoning quite bluntly, leaving Tazuna looking slightly confused.

I glared at Natsu slightly before explaining, "we weren't informed that there were Shinobi after you… our mission was to protect you from thieves or gangs, that's all."

I continued talking about how this was now a mission of higher rank, when I noticed Natsu looking at Naruto's wound carefully assessing the damage before she moved towards him. I kept talking while discreetly watching them.

Naruto's POV

I was so frustrated and angry, my arm was throbbing. Why couldn't I be stronger and faster? I was bringing everyone down. Natsu and Sasuke were brilliant, even sakura had done better than me.

I felt small soft hands cupping my throbbing one. I was startled and jerked my head up.

"N-Natsu?" I questioned looking at the slim platinum blonde who had taken my hand in hers.

"I guess we should return and get that wound healed" Kakashi said, sounding a little concerned. Both Natsu and I quickly turned to look at him. Natsu's face was blank but I saw a flicker in her green eyes for just a moment, and I was unsure about what it was.

I gritted my teeth and gripped my kunai tight as I plunged it into my hand.

'Why is there so much of a difference? WHY? I refuse to be weak; I'm going to get stronger!' I thought as my hand bled draining the poison with it.

"Naruto!" I heard Kakashi and sakura yell. I looked up and held my head high.

"I swear on this kunai… that I WILL protect the old man. We _are _continuing this mission" I snarled, surprising Kakashi, Sasuke, sakura and the old man. I glanced at Natsu wondering how she would react, and I was shocked to say the least. She had a small smile on her face and something similar to pride flashed in her green gold-flecked eyes. She was impressed by what I had done, and for some strange reason it boosted my ego and made me feel happier then I should have felt.

"That's all good Naruto but any more blood loss and you'll die." Kakashi said with a smile, freaking me out and causing me to scream and run in circles.

"NOOO! I CAN'T DIEEE, I HAVEN'T FULFILLED MY DREAM AND I STILL HAVE SO MANY MORE DIFFERENT TYPES OF RAMEN TO TRY!" I screamed hysterically, and that's when I heard it… a sound so gentle it made me shut up just to listen.

Oh my god Natsu was laughing, she looked so care free and happy, and it suited her. I think we were all shocked. Kakashi however was the first to recover and gave her a slight smile before reaching for my hand and bandaging it up.

"Well then, Naruto has made his choice, let's go" she said, calmly after Kakashi had finished, flashing me a small smile before walking off.

I stared slightly at her back as she walked forward a small smile creeping onto my face.

"Hey! Wait for me!" I yelled as I raced to catch up with her as the others moved as well, 'I think this mission is going to be great, believe it!' I thought happily, as we moved forward towards the land of waves.

**Yay, so chapter 8 is done! Honestly speaking I wasn't planning this but I'm splitting the mission to the waves into two chapters. Hopefully I'll be faster with the updates but no promises 'cause there's a lot going on right now.**

**~ .vixen **


	10. Chapter 10: Zabuza Vs Team 7 -Round 1!

Lessons in Living

**Hey everyone! Chapter 9 of LIL, the next instalment of the wave arc! This one has a bit more action, and twists to it … I really hope you all like it. And please favourite? Pretty please, with a cherry on top? **

Chapter 9

Naruto's POV

We had left those crazy mist ninjas a while back and had made our way to a dock. Currently we were sitting in a boat, making our way to old man Tazuna's village.

"Wow this is some fog!" I said looking around slightly nervous; sakura just nodded, looking around nervously just like me, while that stupid teme just hn'ed.

"Yeah, but it's advantageous for us… we can slip through with less chance of someone spotting us" Natsu said, keeping her eyes focused on our surroundings. "So, don't you think it's time you told us what you've been hiding, Mr. I-am-the-greatest-bridge-builder-ever?" she asked, her voice leaving no room for disagreement.

The rest of us were pretty curious too, so we all leaned a little closer to finally find out who we were really against.

Tazuna seemed really frightened, almost hesitant to tell us who we were up against, and it made me all the more nervous. I think all of us were a little freaked about how worried the old man was.

"About this mission… you were right. I'm being chased by a powerful man; this job is most likely out of your job scope." He said not meeting any of our eyes.

"Who is it?" Kakashi sensei asked, the rest of us leaning forward anxious to hear the name of our supposedly powerful enemy.

"The wealthy shipping magnate, Gatou" Tazuna whispered fearfully.

"You mean that short, fat guy with the weird glasses and moustache?" Natsu asked, surprising us all.

We all turned to her with weird looks on our faces, varying from shock to surprise.

"Who are you and what have you done to the real Natsu?" I asked, teasing my quiet teammate.

Her cheeks turned light pink, "hey, I might not talk much, but I do keep up with the times." She muttered clearly embarrassed, much to our amusement.

"Anyway" Kakashi said giving us all strange looks, "isn't he one of the world's richest people?"

"Yes… that's the official story; secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items. He uses ninjas and gang members to takeover businesses and countries, and since the last year he has his eyes on the wave country. That's why he wants to get rid of me, the bridge I'm in charge of building will ruin his plan and weaken his hold on the country" Tazuna replied.

"Okay let me get this straight, there is a short, psychotic rich man who controls ninjas and gang members, both of which he has sent after you in the hopes of killing you, and we're supposed to protect you?" Natsu asked.

"Uh… yes that about sums it up" Tazuna replied.

"Fun" Natsu said monotonously, while I slapped my fisted hand down on the palm of my other hand, "Now I get it!" I yelled finally understanding what they were talking about, causing sakura to face palm.

And that's when the old man guilt tripped us with how upset his family would be, even our resident 'ice princess' Natsu seemed to melt. The old man was good…

"Well, I guess we have no choice we will continue the mission." Kakashi sensei said sounding kinda defeated.

"We'll be there soon, we've actually managed to get here unseen thanks to this mist…" the boat man said sounding relieved.

"Wow" I breathed out as we made our way to the harbour and getting out of the mist, the place was beautiful with clean water and tree like plants growing in the water. I knew the others were in awe as well due to the wide eyed stares while looking around.

We jumped off the boat as soon as we reached the harbour, eager to reach old man Tazuna's village and complete our mission. I could see that Natsu and Kakashi Sensei were worried about something, and I was kind of worried too, to be honest, however I would not allow stupid Sasuke to steal the spotlight anymore.

I looked left and right anxiously searching for any sign of movement, or enemies so that I would be the first to react. I noticed the bush on my right rustling ever so slightly and quickly threw my shuriken, only to see a rat running out of the bush.

"Oops, only a rat" I muttered looking kinda sheepish, while Sakura yelled at me and Natsu face palmed. I half-heartedly listened to Sakura, my eyes scanning through the bushes checking for anything suspicious. I had noticed that both Kakashi and Natsu had both stiffened ever so lightly before relaxing and continuing like nothing had happened, something was definitely about to happen.

"THERE" I yelled throwing a shuriken into the bush, positive that this time at least I had got something.

"I SAID STOP" Sakura screamed while hitting me on the head, while I watched from the corner of my eyes as Natsu shook her head, fighting off a slight smirk.

Kakashi's POV

I moved towards the bush Naruto had thrown his shuriken into, pushing the leafy twigs aside to come face to face with a quivering snow white rabbit. I watched as Naruto grabbed the rabbit, hugging it close to his chest while apologising to the quivering bundle of fur.

'A snow rabbit… during spring?' I pondered; normally rabbits would shed their snow white fur that they had during winter for a coloured coat during spring, seeing that the fur colour changed based on the amount of light. I glanced at Natsu who was looking at me, obviously she had gone through the same deduction and right now the same thought was running through both our minds, 'they're already here…'.

I stood relaxed while analysing the trees around us, scanning for the hidden enemy, while Natsu mirrored my movements. Honestly I was glad she was here, she was an ex-Anbu and though she was not extremely strong she was quite fast having been trained more in stealth and intelligence, I was glad that her quick mind was on our side; after all she was trained at noticing the subtle things. I noticed a sudden movement from among the trees.

"GET DOWN" I heard Natsu yell along with me as she pushed Sakura out of the way and threw herself on Naruto, pushing her body flat against his.

'Bet he liked that' I thought with a slight snicker looking away from the two red faced kids who were getting up, instead shifting my gaze to notice that Sasuke had pushed the bridge maker to the ground as well.

I looked at the man who was standing on the large sword that had embedded itself in a tree trunk after sailing right where we had been standing. The man was tall, pale and muscular with short spiky hair and brown eyes. His forehead protector was placed sideways and the bottom half of his face was covered in bandages similar to a mask. He was shirtless and wore baggy, vertically striped pants along with elbow length wrist warmers and matching leg warmers.

"Well if it isn't the Hidden Mists missing Nin Zabuza Momochi" I stated, glancing at Natsu who seemed to have recognized him as well, but was glancing at his sword. I stopped Naruto who was getting ready to run towards Zabuza, "Everybody step back, this one's on a whole other level" I stated never taking my eyes off the missing nin before me.

"It will be a little tough… unless I do this" I said lifting up my forehead protector that covered my eye.

"So you are Sharingan Kakashi, sorry but the old man is mine" Zabuza stated.

"Protect Tazuna, Zabuza… fight me first" I stated, hoping that we would be able to come out on alive, as Zabuza stated how honoured he was that I was using my Sharingan against him.

"Are you sure we can't trade the old man for his sword?" Natsu asked interrupting the tense silence, her odd question causing everybody to stare at her while she gazed almost lovingly at Zabuza's sword.

'Of course her obsession with unique weapons just had to kick in now, didn't it?' I thought face palming at the young girl before me. "Not now Natsu, you know this is a mission, and how do we feel about failing missions?" I asked getting her back on track.

"But Kakashi, it's so pretty and shiny and sharp…" she whined, her puppy dog eyes begging at me while Zabuza snickered.

"A minute please…" I said to Zabuza before turning to my little weapon obsessed, almost like a younger sister, team member.

"Natsu, how many times do I have to tell you? You can't obsess over other peoples weapons… it's rude and a little creepy!" I stated as the others discussed about what a Sharingan was.

"Can I atleast touch it? Please?" she begged the highly amused assassin who had been standing and watching us.

"Sorry" I murmured to him while I heard the other three of my team discussing the possibility of Natsu being slightly bi-polar.

"Enough, as amusing as this is, I still have to kill the old man. Uh and sorry kid, no one touches the sword…" Zabuza stated, the last bit obviously directed to the slightly disappointed girl, who had a passionate love for… er… dangerous pointy objects.

Zabuza leaped off the sword, pulling it out of the trunk, and landed on the surface of the lake which was present in the clearing. He released a large amount of chakra, and stated hidden mist no Jutsu before disappearing, while the mist started thickening.

"Careful, he's an expert in silent killing, you won't even realise until your already dead" I stated, while Natsu snapped into her usual self, slightly embarrassed that the others had seen a side of her that she had shown to only her most trusted friends.

"Eight choices to kill, liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck, vein, and brain… wonder which one I should choose to kill you…" Zabuza whispered through the mist, scaring Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke and Tazuna while Natsu and I kept our senses alert.

I noticed the three of them were unbelievably scared, even Sasuke was trembling at the amount of chakra and the tension that was making the air heavy.

"Relax Sasuke" I stated, flashing a reassuring smile to the three of them, hoping to quell their fears as much as possible.

"He's right you know… we'll protect you no matter what the cost, we do not let our comrades die" Natsu said flashing a tiny smile, she was getting attached to the group and her barriers were tumbling down faster than I had seen before. I couldn't help but marvel at how well the Hokages little scheme was working. I quickly moved, and pushed my students and Tazuna aside as Natsu moved beside me, deflecting the huge sword with a kunai.

There was no way Natsu could win against him, it had taken a lot of strength on her part just to deflect the sword; she wasn't used to this kind of fighting style. She wouldn't be able to deflect too many more attacks like that, I was sure of that much.

Natsu's POV

I groaned as I deflected the first attack from Zabuza. I had to admit the man was super strong, my arms hurt from just deflecting one slash. I watched as Kakashi stabbed Zabuza in the gut, I couldn't believe it was over that soon.

"SENSEI BEHIND YOU!" Naruto yelled.

I watched in horror as Zabuza turned into water, just as another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced him into half.

"Don't move… it's over" Kakashi stated from behind Zabuza, his kunai against his throat.

"WOW" Naruto yelled, while Sakura smiled in relief and Sasuke continued to watch silently. I had expected Zabuza to be much harder to corner, something felt off. This was much too easy, almost like he wanted to get caught…

"It's over? Ha! There is no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations" Zabuza stated sounding confident, even though he had kunai against his throat. "Heh, it was an impressive plan though, you had already copied my water clone Jutsu. You had your clone say all those things to get my attention, while you hid in the mist and watched. Very nice… but I'm not that easy" Zabuza said appearing behind Kakashi.

I felt a cold almost clammy feeling in my heart; it was unlike anything I had ever felt. No that was wrong… I had felt it before, a long time ago…

"ANOTHER FAKE?!" Naruto yelled, as the 'Zabuza' Kakashi had captured turned into water. I held my biting remark about how we all had eyes and could tell it was a fake. Instead I opted for observing the fight.

I watched with bated breath as Zabuza swung his sword at Kakashi, who managed to duck out of the way by falling to the ground. I could hear the relieved sighs from next to me, but my eyes were glued to the ninjas before me. My eyes widened as I realised what was about to happen.

"Kakashi!" I yelled as I ran towards him, getting into a defensive stance before him. The next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. I managed to twist my body in mid-air by using the momentum of Zabuzas kick, my feet and hands skidding on the ground as I managed to land in a crouch; I could taste the salty, coppery tang of blood as it filled my mouth and I coughed it up. I could hear someone screaming, something that vaguely sounded like my name though I wasn't really sure as everything was slowly flickering black and I sank to my knees, I could feel my eyes roll back slightly.

I felt my eyelids flicker letting in light, after what felt like hours. I slowly sat up, checking for broken bones at the same time, relief flooding me when I realised I had no broken bones but I knew I'd be black and blue tomorrow.

"It's good to see you're up…" I heard Sakura murmur, causing me to turn towards her, "Naruto moved you here away from the fight, we weren't sure how badly you were hurt" She whispered from where she stood. I turned slightly to look at Naruto who stood closer to the fight, just little ahead of me.

I slowly stood up and spat out the blood that had remained in my mouth as I surveyed the battle before me, "Sakura… How long was I out?" I asked quietly as I watched Kakashi struggle in a Water Prison Jutsu. I hoped it hadn't been too long; I really didn't want to jump in to save Kakashi without a few minutes to figure out the situation but if he'd been stuck in there for a while I had no choice.

"A few seconds, not much… Zabuza struck almost immediately after he kicked you" she replied her confusion at the question written clearly on her face.

"God damnit Kakashi, I look away for a few seconds and look what happens" I grumbled under my breath, this was the worst possible scenario. I had three Genin to look after as well as I had to think of some way of freeing Kakashi.

Zabuza created a clone to fight while he held Kakashi captive. I glanced at the three genin noticing the panic in their eyes as Zabuza gave a long speech about real ninjas and life and death situations, before he moved. I watched as he headed towards Naruto.

"Not again" I muttered before sprinting towards Naruto. I managed to reach just as Zabuza raised his leg to kick Naruto. I quickly caught Naruto by the waist while I used my other arm to grab Zabuzas leg and push the both of us safely away.

"Real Ninjas also do not underestimate their opponents" I hissed as I pushed Naruto behind me as Zabuza stepped on Narutos forehead protector. I glanced behind me to make sure Naruto was alright when I noticed him staring at the bandage around his wound from the fight with the two mist ninjas and then glancing at his protector.

'This is good… really good, impress me once more Naruto' I thought as I stepped back allowing Naruto a free hand to handle the situation. I watched as he ran straight at Zabuza and was sent sliding right back skidding to a halt at where Sakura and Sasuke stood. I watched as Sakura started yelling but she abruptly stopped as Naruto slowly stood, the stunned look on her face piqued my interest.

I watched as Naruto shakily got to his feet and that's when I noticed the leaf symbol glinting in his hand. 'Impressive' that was the only thing in my mind, he was standing up to Zabuza and that in my mind was something that earned him a little bit more respect in my eyes.

"Hey eye-brow less freak… put this in your handbook, the man who will one day become the Hokage, Leaf village ninja… Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto stated as He tied his leaf village band. "Sasuke, listen… I have a plan" He stated a determined glint in his eye.

I couldn't stop the smirk forming on my lips, Zabuza was going to regret underestimating us… especially Naruto. He was in for a shock if this was anything like the Naruto I had seen standing up against Mizuki.

I quickly stepped back, receding to the background; I had no intention of interfering with this fight unless they needed help. I was standing to the side watching as Zabuza told them his story and that's when I felt it. Someone was watching us.

'How did I miss that? This is not good…' I thought as I pulled out a kunai. I glanced at the others only to see Sasuke being flung around by Zabuza.

"Kage no Bunshin Jutsu" I heard Naruto yell, before Dozens of Naruto appeared and attacked Zabuza while Sasuke got free, just as Zabuza dealt with all the clones that had caged him in.

"SASUKE!" Naruto yelled as he threw something towards Sasuke.

"Evil Wind Shuriken… Shadow windmill" Sasuke stated holding a large Shuriken. I hoped that they would be alright but right now I had another problem to deal with. I quickly sprinted towards the woods moving away from the fight.

I quickly flipped back, avoiding the senbon that were now embedded in the ground where I had been standing just a few seconds ago. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, trying to calm myself and push all the pain away. I quickly brought up my kunai and deflected the senbon that had been thrown my way.

"It isn't nice to attack someone who has their eyes closed" I stated, my eyes still closed. I heard a soft chuckle; I gave a slight grin as I threw my kunai in the direction of the sound.

"Got you…" I murmured as I heard the wet 'thwack' of my kunai piercing skin and muscle. I felt a sharp sting on my neck and my body was getting heavier, I reached up and felt for the senbon that I knew had hit a pressure point.

"Looks like you got me too…" were the last things to leave my mouth as I felt my body turn numb and my vision began to blur. I felt a pair of hands catch me before I hit the ground, placing me down gently instead and after that I lost all consciousness.

**Oh my god, I'm finally done! I'm really sorry about how long it took and I'll do my best to get the chapters out faster but with classes going on, it's going to be hard.**

**If anyone is interested in a song-fic I am currently accepting requests. Just send me the name of the song, character info and other particulars, if any.**

**Please, please, please review or favourite or even better, do both! **


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